Tenten Appreciation Month Week Four: Astrology
by needdl
Summary: On their impossible quest in the middle of nowhere, Tenten and near-stranger Neji Hyūga bond over the stars.


Part of a fantasy au that's been knocking around in my head. Check out my tumblr post for reference links; i'm under the same pen name.

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Tenten stared down at her hands, the glittering stars still shining from her skin.

"And it doesn't hurt?" Neji, crouched next to the fire, frowned down at her hands. She curled them into fists and tucked them closer to her body, feeling uncomfortable under his gaze.

"They're fine. A little tingly at first, but now they just feel normal."

"I see." He turned back to staring into the fire, probably to fill his daily brooding quota. Tenten mirrored him, absently running her thumb over the ridge of her knuckles. It was the quietest night they'd had in weeks, the clouds over their heads finally ascending to a height where their constant rumbling and flashes of magic could be ignored.

"I've never heard of a spell like this," Neji muttered suddenly.

Tenten closed her eyes. The silence grew between them. Finally she said "You've never heard of a lot of spells."

" _Don't_ start that again."

"I'm not starting anything. You just can't accept that you're wrong-"

He turned to face her, eyes flashing in that tiny glimpse of contained magic that he just refused to use or even acknowledge. "The Hyūga clan has accumulated millenia of knowledge-"

"That doesn't mean they know everything! Magic changes, it's fluid-"

He raised his voice to talk over her, incensing her further. "There are _rules_ to magic, Tenten. The flow of energy-"

"What do _you_ know about magic? You said yourself that you're just a paladin! All of your spells are given to you!"

She stared angrily into his eyes, daring him to contradict her. Neji glared back, flexing his jaw. Finally he looked away and gritted out, "Let's just… not fight anymore. Not tonight."

He was avoiding giving a real answer. Tenten bit back the bitterness in her throat and snapped "Fine."

They returned to silence, Neji once more turning to the fire and Tenten stretched out on her back. Her hands caught her attention again, the stars and galaxies and who knew what else twisting and flickering silently. She flipped them over in the air, examining first the palms, then the back. A streak of light flashed across her thumb and disappeared in the crease.

"I wonder if real stars look like this." The thought was half-complete and voiced softly, and she instantly bit her lip in regret. She hadn't meant to day such a thing out loud.

Neji stirred quietly next to her. Eventually, he murmured "The Hyuga have old star charts, from before the storms." She raised her eyes to him hesitantly. He was watching the motion of her hands as she twisted them, trying to prompt more starfalls.

"Most are just static charts," he continued, "But a few have had enchantments places on them, to move as a reflection of the sky." She continued to watch him, slowly lowering her hands to rest on her ribs. His eyes followed the motion and lingered, before he abruptly looked away.

"... I've never had the opportunity to examine them closely, and the last time I truly looked at them I was still a child. But from what I recall, they do seem similar to… to your hands."

Tenten looked back at her hands, watching a crimson streak cross one palm and slowly appear on the other. "Do you know any constellations?"

"...some."

"Do you think…" She trailed off, staring at her hands. It was an impossible wish.

"Here." Tenten watched, taken aback, as Neji stood and walked around to her side of the fire, hands outstretched.

"I- what?"

"Give me your hands."

Tenten placed her palms on Neji's, slightly surprised at the feel of calluses. She'd expect the Hyūga pretty boy to have sequestered himself to lolling around in his family's riches, never doing anything that a servant could do for him.

But then again, she'd seen his skills in combat. His movements were swift and practiced. Nobody got that good just because of talent.

Neji was examining the stars on her hand closely, flipping her wrist around to look at both sides. "Here's one that I recognize. The Huntress."

"Really?" Tenten brought her face closer to their hands, trying to see what he was pointing out. "What- where-"

He indicated a few stars on the palm of her hand. "These form her lance, and these make up her body and shield."

She squinted at the silvery dots. "So these, here?" She traced the stars she thought he mentioned.

"No. Here and here." He pointed to a cluster of a few stars, then drew a line in the air towards another grouping.

She stared at the clusterings, trying to discern which stars he meant. "How do they connect?"

He let out a little puff of air in frustration, seizing the back of her hand in her grip and laying her palm out flat. He finally made actual contact with her hand, tracing out a path connecting the stars. "Like this. This is her head, and this-"

Tenten cut him off with a soft gasp. Where he had traced out a line, an ember light shone softly exactly where he indicated.

They both stared silently at the line, Tenten in flustered pleasure and Neji in sheer shock. Finally Tenten blurted, "Oh! Do the rest!"

"That wasn't me!" He snapped. "That was a- a remnant of the spell-"

"Who cares!" Tenten insistently pushed her hand towards his face. "Keep going! Use all the remnants!"

"We don't know what the spell does-"

"Damn it, Neji, I just want to see a constellation before I get killed in this _stupid_ mission!"

Neji stared at her, face inscrutable. Her own face was flush with anger and exertion, and bitterly she wished she could pull on an emotionless mask as he did.

Finally, he drew her hand back towards himself. His fingertip as he traced it lightly over her palm sent a shiver down her spine. She hoped he didn't notice.

Tenten craned her neck to watch as more lines appeared, attaching more of the stars together. She smiled, delighted, as The Huntress began forming on her palm. Neji covertly (or so he thought, she definitely saw that but she'd leave him to his delusions) looked at her face, watching her as she grinned happily over the figure now glimmering on her palm.

Let him find her frivolous. She didn't care what he thought of her. She was going to remember every line, every flickering glow that graced her skin, until she could see the stars herself.


End file.
